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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to First Corinthians, chapter one. First Corinthians, chapter 
one. In one of Paul's other letters, 
he tells us that we have been blessed with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. I thought it would 
be good for us this morning, as we begin a new year, to take 
stock of a spiritual inventory. We find that in verses 30 and 
31 of 1 Corinthians chapter 1, where the Apostle Paul tells 
us what it is we have as Christians in our Lord Jesus Christ. I do 
want to begin reading in verse 18 so you can see the larger 
context. The message of the cross is foolishness 
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it 
is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy 
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding 
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the 
scribe? Where is the disputer of this 
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For 
since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not 
know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message 
preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign and Greeks 
seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified 
to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. 
But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the 
power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness 
of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger 
than men. For you see your calling, brethren, 
that not many wise, according to the flesh, not many mighty, 
not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish 
things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen 
the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which 
are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which 
are despised. God has chosen and the things 
which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh 
should glory in his presence. But of him you are in Christ 
Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and 
sanctification and redemption, that as it is written, he who 
glories, let him glory in the Lord. Just read the verse five 
in chapter two. And I, brethren, when I came 
to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring 
to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know 
anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was 
with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling. And my 
speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of 
human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that 
your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power 
of God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the Holy Scripture. We thank you for your wonderful 
gospel. And we pray that you would just cause us as your people 
to take heed to the blessings that we received in Christ Jesus. 
We pray for those who have not yet received these glorious things. 
We pray that you'd open their minds and their hearts. And we 
pray that you would cause your spirit to be at work in our midst. 
We pray that you would forgive us for all of our sin and anything 
that would get between us and a proper understanding of Holy 
Scripture. We know that your word is the 
power of God unto salvation. We know that in your gospel, 
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. We pray 
that not only in this place, but throughout this world, as 
the gospel is preached today, that your word would run swiftly 
and be glorified. and that a great multitude would 
call the Lord Jesus Christ their own, by your grace, through faith 
in him. And we ask for Jesus' sake, Amen. Well, as I said, we're going 
to look specifically at verses 30 and 31, where Paul, the apostle 
says, but of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for 
us wisdom from God. And then he goes on to explain. 
He tells us specifically what that means. In other words, we 
might read the text. who became for us wisdom from 
God, that is righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that as it is 
written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. Now, the 
larger context here, we see Paul setting forth the supremacy of 
the Christian gospel. Paul lived in a world very much 
like our own. He lived in a world that was 
filled with various philosophies. He lived in a world that had 
competing world views. He lived in a world that he ministered 
in a context where people were hostile toward the Christian 
gospel, not unlike what we face today. You can believe just about 
anything today. But if you believe the truth 
of the gospel and you insist upon its exclusivity, then you 
are castigated. You are called a bigot or you 
are put down in some other way. Well, the same thing was true 
in the Roman Empire. You could have any number of 
gods. You could have a whole variety 
of gods. You could have anyone, anything be your God. But the 
Christians were put down and rejected and oftentimes persecuted 
because they proclaimed one God. They proclaimed the Lord Jesus 
Christ. They did not worship Caesar, 
who demanded such in that particular age. They would rather, and they 
would profess Jesus as the king over the nations. And as a result, 
they incidentally were called atheists in the Roman Empire. 
The Christians were the atheists. And they were persecuted for 
such. So that's Paul's context. Corinth was a city that was given 
over to a lot of wickedness and a lot of sinfulness. But it also 
was filled with philosophy and with competing worldviews. So 
what the apostle is doing is demonstrating the glorious supremacy 
of his gospel. He calls it the foolishness of 
God. He is speaking as a man. He goes on to say that the foolishness 
of God is wiser than the wisdom of man. He says this gospel appears 
to be foolish in the minds and eyes of those who have not received 
it. First of all, because of the message itself, the fact 
of a crucified redeemer. I mean, this was an offense. 
We see what Paul says to the Jews, a stumbling block and to 
the great foolishness. Just reviewing a book recently 
on the history of the Roman Empire. And there is an actual picture 
that they reproduced from a jail cell. And in this jail cell, 
one man was making fun of another man who was a Christian. The 
way he did this was that he put a picture on the wall in the 
jail cell. It was a cross with a man on the cross who had a 
donkey's head. It was foolishness to the Romans. 
It was foolishness to the Greeks. It was a scandal to the Jews. They didn't think their Messiah 
came to die and to rise again. They thought Messiah would come 
to put down the Roman government and to exalt the Jewish nation. So they missed the boat. So the 
glory of the gospel is seen in the gospel itself. He goes on 
to say the glory of the gospel is seen in its recipients. That's what verses twenty six 
to thirty or thirty one are all about here in First Corinthians. He says, You see, you're calling 
brethren that not many wise, according to the flesh, not many 
mighty, not many noble are called. The idea is very simple. You 
don't become a Christian because you're a wise man. You don't 
become a Christian because you're a smart man. You don't become 
a Christian because you're a wealthy man. You become a Christian by 
a supernatural work of God most high. You become a Christian 
by his doing. And the glory of the gospel is 
seen in that. And then in chapter two, verses 
one to five, the glory of the gospel is seen in that God would 
use a man like the apostle Paul as we would see him as a hero, 
as a heroic, courageous man. He tells these Corinthians, I 
was with you in weakness, in fear and in much trembling. Just 
the opposite of what you would expect. If you were going to 
try and advance a new philosophy, advance a new religion, you'd 
get very prestigious men. You'd get very polished men. 
You'd get very capable and able men to have them promote the 
new religion. That's not the case. Paul said, 
this is what I'm about. I was weak, I was fearful, and 
I was in much trembling. He says, my speech and my preaching 
were not with persuasive words of human wisdom. In other words, 
he couldn't stand toe-to-toe with the orators of his day. 
He couldn't stand toe-to-toe and give these beautiful flowery 
speeches. But what he did have was the 
spirit and the Holy Spirit came and demonstrated power in the 
preaching of the Apostle Paul. And it was manifest in the salvation 
of their soul. So that's our context. That's the basis upon which Paul 
declares in verses 30 and 31 what these Corinthians had in 
the Lord Jesus Christ and what we, by God's grace, have in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And what you may have today, 
if you put your faith in this redeemer, if you believe the 
gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lord will consider three observations 
this morning in verses 30 and 31. The first is the source of 
gospel blessings. And when I use the word gospel, 
I use it in its familiar sense of good news. The gospel is simply 
the good news that Jesus came into this world to live in obedience 
to his father's law, to die as a sacrifice and substitute on 
Calvary and to rise again and have sin enthroned at the right 
hand of the father. The Bible says all those who 
look in faith to him will have everlasting life. So the source 
of gospel blessing. Secondly, an inventory of gospel 
blessings. And then thirdly, the goal of 
gospel blessings. Notice first the source. Paul 
says very clearly in verse 30, but of him you are in Christ 
Jesus. We need to appreciate that for 
a moment. We're Christians here this morning. 
If we are entering in to a new year, if we have made some resolutions 
to be a better guy or a better girl, if we have sought to or 
if we have prayerfully sought to to see how God might use us 
in this world, we need to remember always we are where we're at 
by grace alone. But of him, he says, you are 
in Christ Jesus. You are not in Christ Jesus because 
you're good. You are not in Christ Jesus because 
you have performed well. The Bible is very clear. There 
is none good. There is none righteous. The 
prophet Isaiah and Isaiah 53 says all we like sheep have gone 
astray. And I'm genuinely convinced we 
don't understand the doctrine of sin. We don't understand the 
effects of our depravity. People oftentimes think that 
they, by a bit of moral reform, that they, by a little bit of 
trying harder, can breach the chasm between God and them of 
their sin. You can't do it. No one can. It is by grace that we enter 
in to this salvation. It is by grace we participate 
in the mercy of God. It is grace and grace alone. It's not by our works. It's not 
by our contribution. It's not by our merit. If we 
believe for a moment that we have something to throw into 
the lot, that we have something to throw into the mix, then we've 
denied the very gospel itself. If we think we can boast before 
our God in something we've achieved, then we have not learned the 
gospel itself. Paul is very clear. It is not 
our wisdom. It is not our might. It is not 
our nobility. It is nothing in our hand we 
bring. It must be a simple clinging 
to the cross of Jesus, of Him, by Him. You are in Christ Jesus. And this jives with the rest 
of the New Testament and the old. Remember when Peter said 
to Jesus that you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Remember, 
Jesus response to him. He doesn't say you've learned 
your theology. Well, Peter, you've studied. Well, Peter, you've 
arrived at a doctrine that other people haven't, Peter. No, he 
says, Blessed are thou, Simon Barjona. Blessed means happy. 
Happy are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal 
this to you, but my father in heaven. James says of his own 
will, by the word of truth, He brought us forth. You might hear 
that and you might think, well, what hope is there? If I'm not 
in Christ, it all depends upon God. What hope is there? There 
is great hope because God is merciful. God is kind. God is 
about demonstrating His powerful arm before all the nations that 
He is Savior, that He is Lord and that He is Redeemer. It is 
not the result of man's own doing. No Christian should ever congratulate 
himself or herself of their position before God. It ought never to 
be the case that we stand with that publican and say, I thank 
you, Lord, that I'm not like other men. I thank you, Lord, 
that I fast twice a week, that I give tithes, that I do all 
these good things. No, we must always be like that 
publican who beat his breast, would not even look up into heaven, 
but who said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. It is not 
by works of righteousness, which we had done, but of him you are 
in Christ Jesus. Paul writes in Romans 9 16. It 
does not depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but 
upon God who shows mercy. That's a humbling doctrine. We 
need to be humbled. We need to be laid low. J.C. Ryle, in his commentary on the 
Beatitudes, said if we would build high, we must begin low. Blessed are the poor in spirit, 
for theirs is the kingdom of God. We need to be humbled before 
this triune God. Now, notice, secondly, he highlights 
this inventory of gospel blessings, what speaks Spurgeon called a 
fourfold treasure. He says, first, that Christ is 
our wisdom. We don't need to apply to the 
stoics or the Epicurean philosophers. We don't need Aristotle. We don't 
need Socrates. We don't need Plato. We need 
Jesus. We might bring that idea into 
our own day and age. We don't need all of the things 
that that musicians and the media and politicians are trying to 
sell us. We don't need their method or 
their means of self redemption. We need Christ our wisdom. This 
statement or the statement notice in verse 17, contrast the wisdom 
of words in the cross of Christ. Notice in verse 17, for Christ 
did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with 
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no 
effect. It doesn't depend upon our ability 
to argue in, argue you in. And it depends on the power of 
Jesus Christ and his doing and his dying. Depends on the power 
of the Holy Spirit. This is the wisdom of God. God 
looked down upon a debauched and reprobate people. How would 
they be saved? The mind of God. It worked this 
way. He would send him his son. would send the Lord Jesus Christ 
and that son would be the surety of a better covenant. That son 
would obey the father. That son would die for sinners. 
That son would rise again. This is the wisdom of God. You 
don't get to heaven by your means or by your works. It's through 
the wisdom of our God. In verse twenty three, what Paul 
says, I love this statement. Verse twenty two, he says, for 
Jews request a sign and and Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach 
Christ crucified to the Jews, a stumbling block into the Greeks 
foolishness. That beautiful. You might ask 
somebody, who do you think Jesus is? They'll say, oh, he's a religious 
teacher. He started a new religion, right? 
He was a good example. That's not how Paul sets him 
forward. The Jews want a sign and the Greeks want wisdom, but 
we preach what Christ and him crucified. Why? Because that's 
where redemption is. The Bible is clear without the 
shedding of blood, there is no remission. And God sent His perfect 
Son as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This 
one who was crucified, according to verse 23. This one who was 
a scandal or a stumbling block, according to verse 23. This is 
something that offends to the point of arousing opposition. 
You see that in the life and the ministry of the Apostle Paul. 
Read the book of Acts sometime. See what happens when he would 
go into a Jewish synagogue. See what happens when he would 
teach them their scriptures. And then when he would get to 
the Lord Jesus Christ, How did they respond? They cast him out. They wanted to destroy him. They 
wanted to get rid of him. Why? Because it was scandalous 
that the Messiah would die on a tree and rise again for the 
saving of sinners. He was a scandal to the Jews 
because a crucified Messiah was an oxymoron. Just didn't make 
sense. Gordon explains it this way, 
one may have a Messiah or one may have a crucifixion, but one 
may not have both, at least not from the perspective of merely 
human understanding. Messiah meant power, splendor, 
triumph. Crucifixion meant weakness, humiliation, 
defeat. Little wonder that both Jew and 
Greek were scandalized by the Christian message. But Paul says, 
for those who have believed, For those who are in Christ Jesus, 
Christ is the wisdom of God. Do you look at Christ that way? 
Do you look at Christ that way? I'm convinced that if we do, 
it will affect our habits when we understand what Paul says 
later in Philippians two, when he says in whom Jesus are hidden, 
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. How will you not read 
the scriptures as a Christian? How will you not listen to sermons? 
How will you not enjoy Christian fellowship? How will you not 
saturate yourself in the understanding of just who Jesus is? Later in 
First Corinthians to 16, Paul's going to say we have the mind 
of Christ. Christ wasn't lazy in his communion 
with the father. Christ got up a long while before 
daylight and prayed. Christ was in the synagogue on 
the Sabbath to study the scriptures. Christ was about those things. If we have received Christ as 
the wisdom of God, we ought to pursue that wisdom with great 
joy, with great happiness. You know, there's scholars out 
there that devote themselves to worldly philosophy a whole 
lot more than Christians devote themselves to an other worldly 
philosophy. Do you realize there are people 
that are out there seeking actively to learn Plato or Aristotle or 
whoever the philosophers of today are? And yet Christians have 
to be have to be harangued in reading their Bibles. I just 
have this zany idea, brethren, that if you are in Christ Jesus 
and you have appropriated the wisdom of God, you're going to 
want to grow. You're going to want to understand. 
You're going to want to learn. You're going to want to stretch 
your mind. You're going to want to try and take in more of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. The psalmist said, great are 
the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight 
in them. There's botanists and zoologists 
and all kinds of specialists out there who are studying the 
works of the Lord, the creational works. Christians need to study 
the redemptive work of the Lord. Christians need to take the mind 
of Christ and apply it. And if you don't know Christ 
today, you're not going to find wisdom out there. Wisdom is to 
be found in the Lord Jesus, the one in whom. All the treasures 
of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. You want to learn? Come to Christ. 
You want to understand the world around you? Come to Christ. You 
want to understand your own place before a sovereign God? Come 
to Christ. That's the message of the Holy 
Scriptures. Notice, Paul then goes on to 
explain this wisdom of God, he says, Christ is our righteousness. If you've been following along, 
you will have already understood. We don't have a righteousness 
before God apart from Jesus. We cannot offer to God our good 
works. Just imagine for a moment, if 
you were 20, I don't know who's 20 here and who isn't. I just 
threw out a random number. Don't think if you're 20, he's 
picking on me. I'm not. But imagine for a moment you 
wandered in here, you're hearing this stuff. You say, wow, this 
God really is holy. He really is amazing. He is a 
righteous God. And you leave with this idea. 
I'm going to get better. I'm going to fix up my life. I'm going to stop doing this. 
I'm going to start doing that. I'm really going to get my act 
together. Now, just imagine with me for 
a moment that you did that. And then you went out and lived 
in a sinless 20 years. You can't do it, but just for 
the sake of argument, let's suppose you could. You might think, wow, 
I've got this 20 years of righteousness that avails with God so that 
when I die, I can stand before him and say, you know, here's 
all the good things that I've done. Here's all the bad things 
that I've avoided. You know what God's going to 
say? I don't know if you're going 
to say it just like this. But what about that first 20 
years? What about all that sin you eat up in those first 20 
years? What becomes of that? Oh, I didn't 
think about that. That's right. We don't think 
about that. We don't think about the great disparity that exists 
between God and us. That's the glory of Christ, our 
righteousness. We can't do it. We can't avail. We are in Adam, according to 
the Bible. We in Adam died. And as a result, 
our lives are lived in a state of rebellion against this God. We need a righteousness that 
avails with God. We need a righteousness that 
is spotless. We need a righteousness that 
is pure and lo and behold, in the gospel, Christ is our righteousness. Pastor Kim read from the beginning 
in the beginning of the service this morning from Romans three. 
Romans is a beautiful document concerning the righteousness 
of God. Paul announces the very theme of the letter in verses 
16 and 17. He says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel, not ashamed 
of it. Why would he say that again? 
Various philosophies, various worldviews, various competing 
ideas. He would go to places and be 
put down. We think we're the only ones 
who I tried to witness at work and they thought I was weird. 
You don't think they thought Paul was weird. I wanted to share 
the gospel, but I was afraid. Paul prays or asks the Ephesians 
to pray that I will speak boldly as I ought to speak. Why? Probably 
because there was a native hesitation in his own heart. But he says, 
I am not ashamed of the gospel. Why, Paul? For it is the power 
of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. To the Jew first 
and also to the Greek. For in it, for in the gospel, 
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. You'll know 
church history, you'll know that's the text that God used in the 
salvation of Martin Luther. Martin Luther thought he could 
avail with God. Martin Luther thought he could 
work up a righteousness. Martin Luther thought he could 
stand before God by doing the right things, by atoning for 
his own sin. When he came to Romans 1, 17 
and 16 and 17, he understood it. He said paradise opened up 
on that day. Why? Because what Paul is saying 
is that in the gospel, the righteousness that God demands, God supplies. In the gospel, the righteousness 
that God requires, God gives. And it's in Christ, our righteousness. 
This is why Paul can say in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, He says, God made 
him Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might 
become the righteousness of God in him. He doesn't mean we become 
better performers. We become better workers. He's 
talking about position. He's talking about a legal declaration. 
He's talking the language of the law court. We are the righteousness 
of God in him because of his righteousness given to us. Paul 
and Philippians chapter three makes an amazing argument there. 
He says, if anyone has reason to boast in the flesh, it's me. Turn to Philippians three for 
a moment. I think it sheds light on this whole reality of the 
righteousness of God, which is Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter 
three. Context is Paul is calling the 
Philippians not to fall prey. To what was called the Judaizers 
and basically the Judaizers were people who came to the Christian 
churches and said, it's a good thing you believed on Jesus, 
but you also need to get circumcised. You also need to do works. You 
also need to fulfill certain requirements. So Paul writes 
to the Philippians and says, beware of these people. You see, 
Paul's mindset when anybody tries to add works to faith, that's 
wrong. When anybody tries to help Jesus 
in the saving of his soul, that's wrong. In fact, notice Paul's 
statement, verse one, Philippians three. Finally, my brethren rejoice 
in the Lord. For me to write the same things 
to you is not tedious, but for you to save. Beware of dogs. 
Not talking about canines, not talking about pit bulls, not 
talking about Rottweilers. Some of us are very afraid of 
big dogs. I just went out the other day to my van and there 
was a big dog. I thought he was going to dart across the road. 
I was terrified. Thankfully, a car came and he 
stopped. He might have been just coming over to sniff me or lick 
me or whatever it is that a big dog wants to do. But I was terrified. I'm OK with my little dog, but 
a big dog that I don't know or understand scares me. That's 
not what Paul's appealing to here. He's not talking about 
the canine phobia that some of us possess. And Philippi was 
just uniquely given to that. No, it's a play on words. Jews used to call the Gentiles 
and still do dogs. Paul says, beware of dogs, these 
Jews who are going to come into a Christian church and tell you 
that faith in Christ is good, but you also must be circumcised. 
Paul says, beware of those dogs. He says, beware of evil workers, 
beware of the mutilation. They're not seeking circumcision, 
they're seeking mutilation. He goes on to say, for we are 
the circumcision was circumcised in the New Covenant, but a believer 
on the Lord Jesus. It was a Jew biblically defined 
and according to Romans chapter two, it's a believer on Christ. 
He says we are the circumcision. The NAS has it. We are the true 
circumcision who worship God in the spirit, literally boasting 
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. You see that? We 
as Christians have no confidence in the flesh. We don't put stock 
in our righteousness. We don't put stock in our law 
keeping. We don't put merit in what we can do. We look to Christ. We boast in Jesus. We rejoice 
in his work. We commit our souls to him, to 
a faithful creator. Now, notice what Paul does. Verse 
four, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone 
else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I'm more so. You 
see what he's doing. These guys are going to come 
into your church. They're going to say it's good to believe and it's 
good to work. Paul says no. If anybody thinks they could 
work and make it to heaven, Paul says, before I became a Christian, 
I was the man. You ever send out a resume. The 
employer gets the resume and he looks at your accomplishments, 
he sees your education, he sees where your experience is, he 
sees your references and he is able to gauge your performance. And you're just hoping that your 
resume does someone else's resume so that you'll get the job or 
you'll get the interview. This is Paul's religious resume 
says, if anyone thinks that he may have confidence in the flesh, 
I more so. If anybody wanders in thinking 
they can work themselves into heaven, listen to my pedigree, 
he says. Circumcised. If anyone else thinks 
he may have confidence in the flesh, I'm more so. Verse five, 
circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe 
of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law, a 
Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness 
which is in the law, blameless. You see that everything's satisfied. It's a great checklist. Stock 
of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, circumcised eighth day, in the 
right place, right time, right people, right covenant. Everything 
is in order. Did that avail with God? No. 
That's why if you are sitting here thinking that you can... 
You're different. You're different than everybody 
else. You've never killed a man. You've never done any of the 
big sins. Surely you'll be able to make it into heaven. No. Paul's resume outdoes you. But 
what does Paul say? But verse seven, what things 
were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet 
indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the 
knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered 
the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, count them as 
dung. Count them as something good 
to throw to the dogs. He's not saying, oh, I wish I 
had those things. I'm so sad. I'm so grieved. No good riddance. When he met Jesus on the road 
to Damascus, it leveled him. He began to understand things 
properly. He understood the holiness of 
God, the sinfulness of man, and that by his works he could never 
achieve heaven. It was through Christ and through 
Christ alone. Notice in verse nine, and be 
found in him. Not having my own righteousness, 
which is from the law, that means those things that I did, those 
things that I performed, but that which is through faith in 
Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. That's the righteousness that 
we need. That's the perfection that we 
must have. It's not a change in our character. 
It's not a change in our declaration. It is a legal imputation of Christ's 
righteousness to our account. It is legal and blessed be God 
for that justice. That's the reason sinners go 
to heaven. If you're familiar with the book 
of Job, you'll remember Job nine. How can a sinful man stand before 
a holy God? Through Christ, nothing in my 
hand, I bring simply to thy cross, I claim foul eye to the fountain 
fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. You see what we have in Jesus, 
brethren, we have a righteousness that avails with God. We have 
a perfect righteousness. We have a purity. We have a holiness. We will stand before the triune 
God of heaven and earth. and hear that blessed statement. Come, come, well, come, blessed 
of my father, enter into your rest, not because of what we've 
done. Paul goes on to say Christ is 
our sanctification. Christ is our sanctification. 
Charles Hodge says, with reference to righteousness and sanctification, 
these are intimately united as different aspects of the same 
thing. Righteousness is that which satisfies the demands of 
the law as a rule of justification. Sanctification or holiness is 
that which satisfies the law as a rule of duty. Christ is 
both to us. The idea is we don't just come 
to Christ and get justified. We live in Christ for sanctification. You don't fight against sin in 
your own strength. Paul in Romans 8, 13 says, if 
by the spirit you do mortify the deeds of the body, you will 
live. It's a spiritual exercise. You live the Christian life every 
day in 2010, every day in 2011, every day in 2012, every day 
in 2013. Every day in 2014, every day 
in the 2090, should God tarry and we make it that far, you 
live by grace through faith in Jesus. I always believe this 
is a message that is very necessary when there's a series on the 
law or on duty. I believe in preaching on the 
law. I believe on Christian duty. I believe that God has called 
us to live in a certain way. But we must always be reminded, 
he has called us to live in a certain way and obedience to his law 
through the power of Christ. Through Jesus. Through his sanctifying 
influence in our life, and then Paul finishes by saying Jesus 
is our redemption. Our redemption, I believe the 
context, I believe that the statement here refers to our final redemption. The moment you believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, you are justified. The moment you believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, you have passed from death to life. The moment 
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are heaven bound. The thought here with reference 
to redemption is that the day of judgment, the consummation 
of all things when we stand before him. So in essence, what Paul 
is saying that Jesus is our the wisdom of God from A to Z. from beginning to end, from beginning, 
middle and end. He's our righteousness. He's 
our sanctification. He's our redemption. The thought 
is that you will never, ever live in your own strength. You 
never, ever depend upon yourself. You always constantly depend 
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is our surety that indeed 
we will be counted blessed in the age to come. Somebody says 
to you, why are you going to heaven? The answer is not because 
I'm a pretty good guy. The answer is because Jesus is 
a most excellent savior because of his life, because of his death, 
because of his resurrection. Now, notice, finally, the goal 
of gospel blessing, verse thirty one, that as it is written. He 
who glories, let him glory in the Lord. You see, it has to 
be this way. Because if we contributed to 
our righteousness. If our redemption hinged upon 
our performance. If our works added to our position 
before God, there would be room for boasting, but the gospel 
is designed in such a way that all boasting is in God, all boasting 
is in the Lord, all glory is given to him. So that when you 
turn to the book of Revelation and you see those saints in heaven 
before the throne, do you know what they're confessing? They're 
confessing that salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb. It is all of grace. It is all 
of grace. The glory of God is the goal 
of gospel blessing. Isn't that beautiful? You might 
say, well, the glory or the message of the gospel so that I can go 
to heaven and I can be happy. That's a corollary. The primary 
function of the gospel is that God would be magnified, that 
God would be glorified, that God would be exalted. God says 
this very clearly in the prophet Ezekiel. I'm going to draw you 
out of the nations. I'm going to sprinkle clean water on you. 
I'm going to give you a new heart. I'm going to do all these things 
that he promises to do. And they're fleshed out in the 
New Testament. And he says so that all the nations may see 
that I am glorious. And what Paul has in his mind 
is Jeremiah, the prophet, verse chapter nine, verses twenty three 
and twenty four. Thus says the Lord. Let not the 
wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory 
in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But 
let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and 
knows me. that I am the Lord exercising 
loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For 
in these, I delight, says the Lord. The glory of the gospel 
of Jesus Christ is God himself. You are saved to worship. You are saved to praise. You are saved to bring glory 
unto him. Well, we learn a few things and 
then we close first. The doctrine of soteriology, 
that simply means the doctrine of salvation. Salvation. It is of him that we are in Christ 
Jesus. Why do I repeat this, because 
it needs to be repeated, sometimes we can get very proud, sometimes 
we can get very arrogant and in that we are very offensive. 
Christians should be the humblest people on the face of the earth. 
It's an unfortunate reality that it doesn't always happen that 
way. We can be offensive, we should 
be offensive and insisting on the exclusive claims of Jesus 
Christ. That's where the offense should 
come, not because we're arrogant, not because we think we're something, 
not because we think we're able to dazzle people with our arguments. No, but of him you are in Christ 
Jesus. But as well, that's a means of 
encouragement. Sometimes we can get down as 
Christians. Sometimes we can imitate the 
psalmist in Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 says, Why aren't thou downcast? Oh, my soul. Hope now in God. We're where we're at because 
of God. God is for us. Paul uses this Romans 8. God 
is for us. What can man do? Be encouraged, 
brethren. Sent out a quote yesterday from 
Machen from a book called What is Faith? Beautiful, beautiful 
quote. But the one that I put on the 
calendar, been on a bit of a matron cake cake recently, is just a 
wonderful theologian. Sometimes we struggle with our 
weak faith. We might see somebody that's 
so full of zeal, so full of life, so full of joy, we judge ourselves 
as messed up. Then we begin to doubt, we begin 
to wonder if we're really even in Christ, because if you're 
in Christ, you'll be happy, peppy, holy and bouncy all the time. 
You look like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. We've got whole branches 
of evangelicalism out there selling that sort of Christianity. She'll 
always be happy, always be happy, always be bubbling. Well, I'm 
sorry. There are seasons of Psalm 42 
and 43. There's times when you're downcast. There's seasons in the life and 
history of Christ's church where they need to take seriously James's 
statement, lament and mourn and weep. Maybe you shouldn't be 
so bouncy, happy and joyful when you're a wretch. We might judge ourselves as being 
outside because of weak faith. Love what Machen says, weak faith 
will not remove mountains. Will it? You may never go conquer 
India for Jesus. You may never stand on five corners 
with a sign and a bullhorn and preach the gospel to every passerby. He says weak faith will not remove 
mountains, but there is one thing at least that it will do. It 
will bring a sinner into peace with God. Weak faith, saving 
faith. It's the absence of faith that 
ought to give you great concern, but if you're looking to Christ, 
you're living according to the Bible. He goes on to say, our 
salvation does not depend upon the strength of our faith. Saving 
faith is a channel, not a force. If you are once really committed 
to Christ, then despite your subsequent doubts and fears, 
you are his forever. So take it away from you and 
ask recently, you think a Christian can lose his salvation? Absolutely 
not. Christ doesn't give you a righteousness 
and then take it back. Well, what about my uncle Chewie, 
who lost it? Well, your uncle Chewie never 
had it to begin with. Because when God saves a sinner, 
he doesn't let them go. Weak faith is still saving faith. It may not remove mountains, 
but it brings peace with God. You look today and you'll live. 
So the Bible says. I imagine on that wilderness 
day when all of the Israelites were bitten by serpents and then 
Moses came and erected this brazen serpent and told everybody to 
look and they would live. There were probably a few Israelites 
who cocked their head faster than the rest of them. But the 
one who barely moved it and looked lived just as much as the first 
guy. You look to Christ and you will 
be saved. Doesn't matter how old you are. Doesn't matter how 
young you are. Christ is our righteousness. Secondly, we need 
to make much of Christ. That ought to be the defining 
thing in our church and in our lives. It ought to be Jesus. 
We ought to say with Paul, the apostle, for I determined to 
know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
That involves the entire counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation. 
It involves knowing the Scriptures. It involves memorizing the Scripture. It involves being able to tell 
people the Scripture. It involves prayer. It involves 
loving Jesus, studying Jesus, seeking to be like Jesus. Not 
because we'll be saved by being like Jesus. We've already been 
saved. We must follow Him as our Lord. And then finally, as I've already 
mentioned, If you've come here today and you don't know this, 
Jesus, he says, not Jim Butler, not me. It's Christ. He says, look and live that beautiful, 
not go do go fix, go put it all back together again, get everything 
corrected and then come. No, Jesus says, come with your 
sin. Jesus, like a doctor. In fact, the scripture calls 
him a physician, or at least the Puritans called him a physician. 
It's implied for sure. The doctor doesn't tell you, 
you need to go get healed and then come and see me. You go 
fix that broken arm and then I'll look at your broken arm. 
But sinners think that way. I know. I used to think I got 
to get things straight. I got to fix this. I got to solve 
this. I got to put this back right. 
And then I'll be ready for religion. That's not Christian religion. 
Christian religion says return backsliding children and I will 
heal your backsliding. You bring it to the Lord Jesus, 
he washes, he cleanses, he forgives. We're studying the prophet Zechariah 
in our evening services, and there is a statement in there 
that encourages the true believer. It says, in that day, talking 
about when Jesus would come, there would be a fountain open 
for sin and uncleanness. You bring that sin, you bring 
that uncleanness to the Lord Jesus and he washes you. You receive his righteousness 
by grace through faith and you will have everlasting life. May 
God indeed take these things and press them on our hearts 
and may God indeed press his people to a thankful, joyful 
Christian service under him, not the Tigger type, but that 
joy which goes deep, that joy which understands gospel truth. 
Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for the 
Holy Scriptures and we thank you for what we have in Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. We praise you that he is the 
wisdom of God, that he is our righteousness and sanctification 
and redemption. And I pray that all of us would 
glory in the Lord, that all of us would praise you and worship 
you. That all of us would just seek in all that we do, God, 
to do it for your glory's sake. We pray for the preaching of 
your gospel throughout the earth today. We pray that you would 
apply that righteousness of Christ to a great multitude of sinners 
and cause many people today to confess Jesus Christ as Lord 
and Savior. And we pray in his blessed name. 
Amen.